CHANDIGARH: Despite the countrywide outcry against rapes since the gruesome Nirbhaya case in December 2012, young women in Haryana still have to fend off molesters on their own. This, even when they are travelling in a bus brimming with men.

A shocking video of two young sisters turning the tables on their molesters in a crowded bus went viral on Sunday leading to the arrest of the three accused. The drama unfolded on a Haryana Roadways bus heading from Rohtak to Sonipat on November 24, when Arti Kumar, 22 and her sister Pooja, 19, were filmed attacking their molesters with their belts, by a pregnant woman travelling on the same bus.

What made the incident all the more alarming is the fact that none of the co-passengers who are seen in the video, cringing and smirking, so much as raised a finger to come to the aid of the hapless sisters. In fact the co-passengers are seen in the video dissuading the girls from lodging a police complaint. The pregnant woman was the only one who objected to the harassment by the three men.

Initially the duo, bachelor in computer application students, suffered in silence as the men passed obscene remarks and made lewd gestures at them. However when the men started picking on the pregnant woman as well, the girls took matters into their own hands and bravely fought back.

TV screenshot of a video shows the girls taking on the molesters on a bus.

Eventually the sisters were overpowered, their mobile phones taken away and they were thrown off the moving bus causing them minor injuries. In the meantime the pregnant woman got off the bus at the next stop and accompanied the girls to the nearest police post. They were then taken to Sadar police station to register a case.

Police have identified the three men as Mohit, Kuldeep and Deepak of Asan village. Police claim that while the accused are all Jats, the girls belong to an other backward class (OBC) community.

Rohtak SSP Shashank Anand said the accused have been booked for assault and outraging the modesty of a female. "They have been identified and were arrested on Sunday evening," he said.

Reflecting the sorry state of affairs in the state to tackle crimes of this nature, the much-hyped women helpline proved no help. According to the sisters the operator simply hung up after promising to call back. "Till now, our call has not been returned," said the sisters. Anand promised to look into the ineffectiveness of the helpline.

The Khattar government had also announced the deployment of guards in buses used by women but the move is yet to be implemented.

However the father of the girls, Rajesh Kumar, a clerk in the state electricity department had nothing but praise for his feisty daughters. "I am proud of them and expect other girls to follow them in the future,'' he said.